Senior officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were placed on administrative leave after they refused to turn over classified material to teams from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Officials spoke with The Associated Press on Sunday to say USAID members were eventually unsuccessful and DOGE teams were able to gain access to some of the agency’s classified information, including intelligence reports.
John Voorhees and deputy Brian McGill were the two employees that believed they were legally obligated to deny DOGE teams access after they didn’t have a high enough security clearance. They refused to allow the DOGE employees in and threatened to call U.S. Marshalls, NBC News reported.
In a post on X on Sunday, Elon Musk, who has been tapped to lead DOGE, said the agency is a criminal organization and it was “time for it to die.”
In another post online, Katie Miller, who worked under President Trump’s administration and now works for DOGE, said there was no classified material accessed “without proper security clearances.”
The Trump administration has made USAID a target in its wide-ranging changes to the federal government.
Last week, President Trump considered merging the organization under the State Department as the administration looks to cut spending and the federal workforce.
USAID provides humanitarian assistance to other countries impacted by conflicts. It also assists developing countries in various other ways.
It has a budget of more than $50 billion and was formed in 1961.
